Thursday, 27 October 2016

“I’m already starting to gain great insights as to how the Hospitality industry works”

“Fantastic opportunities, lots of encouragement & superb guidance”

An internship helps tremendously in fast tracking your career growth. It
has a great deal to offer and reaping its benefits will bring you
substantially closer to perfecting your social and work related skills.
In a nutshell, this is what our J1 USA internship program offers
aspiring hoteliers.

Experiencing
a cross-border work ethic and environment is truly a unique experience.
It is not only about being in another country or meeting new people but
primarily focuses on what you learn, how you adapt to new cultures and
assimilate knowledge, new cuisines, new social customs, new languages
and last but not least, enhances your creativity. The USA internship
program is a once in a lifetime opportunity for talented students and
graduates to experience the best that the world of hospitality has to
offer!

Focusing on these
advantages, we encourage and support Hospitality institutions in India,
the UK & EU to participate in our J1 USA internship program.

Simple Steps to participate in our J1 USA program:

Valid for all hospitality institutions and participants in India, the UK & the EU.

The concerned institution or candidate requires to provide us with the following participant documents:

A comprehensive resume accompanied by a recent photograph of the candidate (in word format only)

Cover letter

Reference letters from previous employers (at least 2)

Degree or diploma certificates

Mark sheets

Passport pages (first and last)

Certificate
of proficiency in the English language (IELTS, TOEFL, SLEP, TOEIC etc.)
In the event a candidate does not have this certification, s/he will be
required to take a free English assessment test accessible on
www.testpodium.com and thereafter forward the results to Vira
International.

Once we
have received all the applications, an internal candidate evaluation is
conducted. Thereafter, details of suitable candidates are forward to our
partner hotels in the USA. After the short listing process is completed
we will notify the colleges and participants in order to coordinate
telephone or Skype interviews. Upon selection, we will share the offer
letter, formal job description and details of your remuneration package
as well as benefits information received from the future employer.

Thursday, 13 October 2016

The usual notion of a Chef is a cook with white hat and apron mainly
found inside a restaurant or in the hotel’s kitchen. It’s actually
right, but this person is a highly trained culinary professional when it
comes to menu planning, cooking, food preparation and presentation as
well as being in charge of the complete kitchen. These are just a few of
the basic responsibilities of being a chef. In reality, it is a broad
career path because in the long run once can shift from being a head
chef to a restaurant owner, a culinary administrator or educator and the
lists goes on and on.

Skills and Qualities to become a Chef

Being
a chef is not that easy. One must have the passion for cooking and a
love for food. Basically these are the dynamic duo in an individual’s
drive to becoming a successful chef. Aside from these traits, an
individual must also possess the following:

Excellent leadership and communication skills

Team Player

Multitasking capability

Creative and Imaginative

Superior standards when it comes to hygiene and cleanliness

Great organizational skills

Steps to becoming a Chef

Having
an educational degree is not always a prerequisite to becoming a chef.
Many a good chef have excelled by ‘learning by doing’. Simply
possessing a good standard education such as a good command of the
English language and basic Math skills are great building blocks in
pursuing a culinary career path. The following steps will guide you
accordingly:

Acquiring a kitchen job in the hotel or restaurant

Having
the basic know-how on how the kitchen in a restaurant or hotel works or
operates is really important to become a chef. In the beginning, this
may involve washing dishes, throwing garbage and basically doing the
‘dirty’ kitchen chores. However, what’s important is getting ample
experience by interacting with professional chefs in the kitchen,
because you will be able to learn new cooking methods and tricks of the
trade. Because the world of cuisine is continuously evolving and being
up to date is essential.

Obtaining a High School Diploma

Before
enrolling in a culinary school or even an apprenticeship, it is an
essential for you to have high school diploma. A fair comprehension of
the English language and basic Math will help you go along the way.

Getting a Formal Education at a Culinary School

There
are different program offers for one to achieve their dream or of being
a chef de cuisine. The course duration is between one and four years.
The certification can be an associate or bachelor’s degree or a diploma.
Though it’s not a necessity, it will definitely give you the edge in
your field especially if your aiming for a senior culinary position with
great responsibilities.

Gaining Valuable Experience

After
studying or completing a formal education at a culinary school, it is
necessary to put theory into practice. Training and working under a
qualified professional chef will surely hone your skills and knowledge.
This opportunity will also widen your professional network.

Certification

Obtaining
certification or proof of specialization isn’t really required,
although it’s always an advantage and provides fillip to career
advancement and better remuneration.

Different Culinary Chef Titles

Sous Chef is the head chef’s assistant in the kitchen

Chef de Partie is the chef who supervises a specific area of production

Executive
Chef/Head Chef/Chef de Cuisine is the individual who manages all the
kitchen activities related to the kitchen such as menu planning, food
quality, cost, presentation, kitchen inventory and managing culinary
staff.

Commis chef is also known as chef in training or
basically a trainee in the kitchen. The Commis works under the
supervision of a Chef de Partie, to learn each production area in the
kitchen.

All kitchens have a traditional Brigade
system. The Brigade also consists of Chef’s who specialize in a certain
production process or cuisine. A few titles are, Chef de Patisserie,
Chef de Garde Manger, Saucier, Chef de Poisson etc.

Work Opportunities

In
our ever changing, hectic world there is an increasing tendency towards
formal eating out as well as enjoying a relaxed meal at a Café or
Bistro. Recent studies have revealed that there is a huge lack of
skilled chefs in the UK. Once you are a qualified chef you can enjoy
working across a broad spectrum of hospitality establishments like
hotels, restaurants, cafés, wine bars as well as in education.

Remember if you love food and have the passion for cooking, pursue your dream of becoming a Chef!